Saving the St. Christopher vessel

GAUTIER, Mississippi (WALA) - SAVING THE ST. CHRISTOPHER

For 12 years one man has been trying to save a piece of nautical history. The St. Christopher is a large schooner that's been grounded in Gautier since Hurricane Georges. Now the clock is ticking to move the ship before a canal is filled in and salvage becomes hopeless.

RUSTING AND ROTTING

It's a ghost of a by-gone era. Built in the 1930s, the St. Christopher was one of the last commercial sailing vessels. But since Hurricane Georges in 1998 this piece of maritime history has been washed up in a Gautier marsh, rusting and rotting.

"The captain would have commanded the vessel from here," Bryan Leveritt said.

Bryan Leveritt has spent those last 12 years trying to save the St. Christopher and turn it into a Christian mission ship.

"If we had her together right now she'd be in Haiti," Leveritt said. "We'd have three or four doctors on board. We'd have three or four support personnel per doctor."

After Hurricane Georges a canal was dug to move the St. Christopher. Right about the time they finished that canal, Hurricane Katrina came along moving the ship another ten yards inland. Making it even more difficult to move.

CLOCK IS TICKING

Time is now running out for the St. Christopher. The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources wants to fill in the canal for environmental reasons and they've given Leveritt until the end of the month to move the ship.

"We couldn't see this vessel stranded and left to be destroyed," Leveritt said.

Leveritt says volunteers are stepping up, and Friday air jacks will be brought in to raise the ship and rollers placed underneath.

"We've got to roll her, instead of forward, we have to roll her diagonally," he said.

From there, the ship will be loaded onto a barge and towed to a boat yard for refurbishing. Soon there after, the St. Christopher will begin a new life bringing help where it's needed.

"I guess the best way to put it, is were saving history to save people," Leveritt said.

And the clock is ticking on making that dream come true.

HEADED TO THE BAYOU

The refurbishing of the St. Christopher is scheduled to take place in Bayou La Batre.